Dad of gun victim 'devastated'

THE heartbroken father of Greater Manchester's latest victim of gun crime says more should be done to stop weapons flooding into the country. Junaid Khan, 21, suffered serious wounds to his legs and groin after he was shot dead in the car park of a doctor's surgery on Block Lane in Chadderton, Oldham, just after midnight.

THE heartbroken father of Greater Manchester's latest victim of gun crime says more should be done to stop weapons flooding into the country.

Junaid Khan, 21, suffered serious wounds to his legs and groin after he was shot dead in the car park of a doctor's surgery on Block Lane in Chadderton, Oldham, just after midnight.

Pray

He was taken to the Royal Oldham Hospital, where one of his sisters works, but could not be saved. Speaking at the Sussex Street mosque, just yards from where his son was gunned down and where many from the community had gone to pray, Junaid's tearful father, Mumtaz Khan, 60, called for action. He said: "I wish the government should do something about it, there are dangerous weapons coming into the country and nobody is safe."

'Devastated'

Mr Khan, who owns a shop on nearby Lincoln Street, added that he was 'devastated' by his son's death. He raced to the scene after neighbours banged on the shutters of the shop he lives above with his wife, Taj Mahal. "I was inside the property and somebody was banging on the shutters," he said. "I opened the bedroom window and there was two regular customers, both English women, they said somebody has shot your son, come to Block Lane surgery straight away.

Ambulance

" I telephoned the ambulance and ran down." The father-of-five says that when he arrived police would not let him see his son. "There were English boys and girls there. They said he had a conversation and then went to his car across the road and somebody was waiting for him. Whoever it was shot him and then got into the car and drove off.

Blood

"The doctor said he had not been shot in the chest. They shot him in the legs and he lost a lot of blood at the scene so they could not save him." Mr Khan said his son was 'respected around the area' and described him as 'a very good lad'. He added: "He used to help old people a lot in the shop. He'd carry their shopping for them. I never had any complaints about him.

Tears

"He never stole a penny from the till. Everybody loved him. His mother's heart is broken. She's at the house with the rest of the family. They are all in tears. I am so hurt about it. I don't know whether I will be able to pass the time without him." Junaid's death is the second fatal shooting in the region in the space of a week after Nasar Hussain, 30, was shot six times while working at a Salford off licence on Saturday night.

Mitsubishi

A silver Mitsubishi 4x4 believed to be linked to the incident was found set on fire in a car park around half a mile away close to the Red Barn playing fields off Broadway. No arrests have yet been made. Mr Khan said his son, a former South Chadderton pupil, had worked with him at the shop for the last five years. He has two other sons, the eldest Imtiaz and Aowais, 16, and two daughters, Reheela, 29, a doctor and Shabana, 27. A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester Police said: "The investigation is still in the very early stages and more information will be released when known."